


Light

by abetternameneeded



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:40:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25090276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abetternameneeded/pseuds/abetternameneeded
Summary: Alice/Tilly struggles with light pollution.
Kudos: 3





	Light

Alice watched out her window with her spyglass. She was lonely but the stars kept her company and showed her the passage of time. Each movement of the constelations showed her another lengething of a prison sentance she'd never actually done anything to deserve. Another day, another week, another month, another year. She never lost count. Thousands of days, millions of seconds, hundreds of hours. The sound of a silent clock driving her slowly mad. But the stars and the trees and the flowers she could only see through the lens of papa's spy glass made it feel less lonely. That and her toys. She liked the sky. It made the tower feel at least a little like a home.

Tilly didn't like the sky. She couldn't think why. She lived in a traincar. There wasn't much in the way of a view. Just train tracks. But something seemed off about the sky. More off than anything else felt. Just another missing piece in the over crowded jigsaw box that was her mind. Something was missing, or maybe not. Tilly wasn't sure. She just didn't like the sky. It felt wrong. Maybe it was just her. She was pretty lonley. The sky must know that. Maybe that's why it felt strange to her.

"Look, Starfish." A toddler Alice sat on her papa's lap watching the stars as he explained them to her. He handed her his sppyglass and she watched the night sky through it. She loved doing that, it made her feel less trapped and reminded her that papa was there. She wasn't entirely alone. She had someone.

Tilly sat in Rogers' apartment. The sky still felt weird. He'd taken her in. She'd been living with him for a week or two and the sky still felt strange. She wasn't as lonley anymore. Detective Weaver had though her capable of murder for a bit, but so had she. But things weren't as bad as they'd been. She had someone and soewhere to go home to. But something still felt off about the sky. She wasn't sure what it was.

Alice glanced up at the sky. The curse had broken. Maybe it was just because she couldn't be ner papa agin. But then he was fine and there was still something wrong with it. She didn't quite get it.

"What's wrong, tower girl?" Robin could always tell when something was bothering her.

"The sky feels a bit off, I don't know."

"It looks fine to me, same old lights. Moths going after the porch light, maybe?"

"What doing what?"

"They're bugs in this realm, they're drawn to bright lights."

"You can't really see many stars here, maybe that's it?"

"Never been much of a stargazer myself, not that there were many stars in storybrooke either."

"Aye, that's it. I watched them all the time in the tower," Robin leaned in and hugged Alice. That tower had taken Alice's entire childhood from her. She;d never gotten to run around and play outside, or make any friends. And she'd been alone for a long time. And she knew Alice found comfort in the physical touch she'd been deprived of for so long. "Think they made me feel a little less alone somehow. Made me feel like papa was closer than he could be."

"We dn't have to live in a big city, you know?" Robin offered. It was a big adjustment. The curse had been the first time Alice had lived around so many people, it had to be overwhelming at times. "I'm sure your dad would move wherever you asked."

"Not wrong there, lass," Killian stepped out of the diner. "Sorry, didn't mean to overhear. But, I figured you girls would like something to eat."

"Henry's grandma won't stop talking your ear off about wedding planning will she?" Alice asked, immediatly spotting her papa's ploy to get out of Snow's wedding planning for a moment.

"That too."

Alice quirked an eyebrow.

"Okay, mostly that. She's suprisngly organized and ready for a wedding. You just got engaged last week!"

Alice and Robin both laughed.

"She's had binders prepared since she was pregnant with Emma, I think," Robin told him.

"That's...dedicated?" Killian was a little confused.

"I don't like the sky here, papa. Can't really see the stars."

"It's light pollution. So much light from other sources hides the stars a bit. I agree."

They found neighboring cottages a little ways aaway from any large city and lived happily ever after.


End file.
